Group Akatsuki
by Mijin
Summary: In Rock Bell middle school, greoups and clubs are the most popular thing. What happens when Casana gets invited to one of the most popular group, Akatsuki, as a new student from transfer?
1. RockBell's Akatsuki

Being in school always has it's kicks. This particular school that our friends go to is just wacky! How? Keep reading and find out.

In Rock Bell Middle School, there are numerous clubs and groups that battle against each other. The most organized and wanted group is the well-known Group Akatsuki, which is the group we'll be focusing on the most. This group consists of 12 members: The Leader, Flower-Chan, Deidara, Sasori, Kyohaku, Taylor, Kisame, Itachi, Hidan, Kakuzu, Tobi, and Zetsu.

The Leader is, well, the Leader of Akatsuki. But for a leader, he was very peculiar in his actions. He refrained from ever telling his name to the other members or even showing himself, and he communicates with the other members through their cells.

Flower-Chan is possibly the only person who knows the Leader truly. But this member often conceals himself in a shroud of shadows like the Leader. Some of the members aren't even sure what gender the member is.

Deidara, one of the four artists in Group Akatsuki, is the only member who can be perky and serious at the same time. He bases his art on sculpting, and can be found toying around with his clay during a lesson or class.

Sasori is somewhat of Deidara's opposite. He almost has no humor and is always very calm and serious, hardly showing any emotion, in almost any situation known to man. He is also part of the artist group and often argues with Deidara about what art really is. He bases his art mostly on wood carvings, which he treats with extremely delicate care, and while he's doing it, he likes it nice, quiet, and alone.

Now on to Kyohaku, the most complicated character of the group. She grew up with brain damage for some unknown reason, and can't manage to swallow large bits of information at once, no matter how hard she tries to. She's been engaged to Sasori as a child by their parents, who mysteriously died on the same date, same time with no certain reason. She's artist number 3 in the Akatsuki, and is close friends with nearly everyone in the group, who she sometimes just treats like dirt for no specific reason. She bases her art on photography and music, and is the leader of her own music band and the school's choir. She sometimes relies on the other artists to replace the people who were absent on a particular day, which the members gladly does.

Taylor is most possibly the most athletic of the group. She loves playing soccer and can be seen kicking a soccer ball after school in the grass field. She's had a major crush on Kisame ever since they met, and she is most friendly with him than any other member. She's made it onto the soccer team and is the most cheerful of the group at most times, and she's was elected as the most athletic of all the students at Rock Bell at the awards ceremony.

Kisame also likes soccer and is similar to Taylor in many ways. (Not to mention that he likes her too.) He often accompanies Taylor in her games and raises her spirits whenever she is down, which happens rarely. He's partnered to Itachi, despite all of his complaints and suggestions to join Taylor instead. They really don't get along too well, but Kisame tries to ignore Itachi most of the time, and isn't really friendly with Kyohaku, whom she calls 'Crabman'.

Itachi, the one who secretly has a crush on Taylor, is the most serious of the group and currently lives with his younger brother and Kyohaku. To put it simple, the Uchihas are billionaires. Don't ask why, they were rich ever since Itachi was born, so nobody really knows, since the only surviving members of the Uchiha are Sasuke and him.

Of course, he really doesn't like having Kyohaku as a step-sister, but he can't really do anything about it until Kyohaku is 18. Itachi can't wait for that day. XD

Hidan is the person who whines too much. He whines about this, he whines about that, bla bla bla bla bla. But he has the reputation of the lucky one. No matter how many bad situations he gets into, he always gets out of it. (This sometimes gets the other members in trouble.) He doesn't really have an occupation as anything. _Yet._ He's determined to try and get one.

Kakuzu, the club's treasurer, is known as the 'Lover of Money'. He loves money more than anything else in the entire world. He has a habit of haggling at stores, and he doesn't like paying tax to anything.

Tobi, an Assistant to the four artists, annoys pretty much the crap out of everyone, especially Deidara, which is the person Tobi looks up to the most. He's the latest member of Akatsuki, and most of the members regret ever letting him join.

Zetsu is probably the only reason the Leader refrains from kicking Tobi out of the Group. Zetsu has an unusual love for plants, especially Venus Fly-Traps. He's nominated for the most Weirdest. Or that'd be what he'd get if he was in the debate, anyways.

The whole group hadn't gotten any members for a while. But that wasn't really the problem; they were going to recruit some one very soon….


	2. Introduced to Casana

Casana smiled nervously at her new class. Most of the students scowled at her. But two certain students, Kyohaku and Sasori, were actually a bit nervous.

On pure chance, the teacher seated her next to Kyohaku. Casana timidly sat down next to Kyohaku, barely talking. Kyohaku studied Casana a bit and looked away when Casana turned towards her. Casana stuttered, "U-Um, Kyo-chan..."

Kyohaku scowled on the outside, but inside, she's was truly happy to meet her. Her saying Kyo-chan meant that she wanted to be friends, right?

Casana looked down, fiddling with her fingers. Kyohaku continued looking at her desk mate, tapping her desk with her fingers, when she finally spoke up.

"Well?"

Casana jumped at how nasty Kyohaku's words came out. She was just starting school, and she already had someone who hated her? Great. Just great. She looked away. "Nothing...Never mind."

Kyohaku frowned and turned around. What was up with her? Kyohaku could barely read her movements, at least, not like she could with the other kids. Kyohaku held her head in her hands and let out a sigh. Casana was still fiddling with her fingers, looking down.

"Kusabana, is there something wrong?"

Casana jumped. Who was that??

"Hey, Sasori, leave her alone. She needs time. Right?" Kyohaku snickered. Casana started blushing, her face becoming hot.

"Um..."

"Actually, it seems like she doesn't want to be here, Kyohaku." He said, smirking.

"Aw shut up. Give her a chance."

"Mm...To tell you the truth, the only one who'd give her a chance would be Deidara."

"Deidara?" Kyohaku asked, trying to sound surprised. Sasori nodded, sitting behind the two girls. He motioned to the door when Deidara came in running just as the tardy bell rang. Kyohaku smirked.

"Yeah, if you think about it, you're right. Why don't you invite him over to sit next to you, Sasori-kun?"

"...Why not. Hey, Deidara, come over here!" Sasori yelled over the class' commotion, waving a hand over the crowd. Deidara obeyed, happily walking over to his teammate, when he got sight of the brunette sitting next to Kyohaku. He blushed slightly, but not without Kyohaku and Sasori noticing. Then their gaze immediately shot back to Casana, who also catched sight of the blonde and blushed. They smirked at each other. Finally. Another couple besides them.

Kyohaku smiled over her shoulder, "Hello, Deidara."

"H-Hi."

"Mm? What's wrong? You were happy a minute ago. Hey, wait, are you _blushing?_" Kyohaku asked, snickering. She loved embarrassing people.

"What? N-No! I'm not!!...am I?" Deidara stuttered. Kyohaku frowned and mumbled something to Sasori. Now, thanks to the new kid, she couldn't read Deidara's actions either. In fact, he never acted this way before, in all the time she knew him. There was some sort of connection between the two students. But it was something that she couldn't grasp fully.

Kyohaku immediately headed for the Akatsuki base after school, waving good bye to Sasuke quickly. He doesn't know that his step-sister was in the Akatsuki. He absolutely _despised_ the Akatsuki. But know one knew exactly why.

"What do you think of the new kid?" Sasori asked at the base.

"She's…not like other people. Ands she has an uncertain effect on Deidara." She frowned slightly. "In fact, she's basically the only person I can't figure out."

"So? Do you think we should…?"

Kyohaku smirked. "Definitely."

Kyohaku started writing the letter, smiling mentally. Now that all of the acting was over, she could introduce the real her completely, with no deceiving or lies. Doing that was always hard, being that she had to act somewhat of the opposite of what she really was. But she had to do it for the sake of Akatsuki.

She finished writing the letter and inserted it into Casana's mailbox the next day.


	3. Submission

Casana yawned and got out of bed. Yesterday was blurred at the moment. She showered, dressed, and ate breakfast quickly, when, for one day, she thought she should take out the mail in the morning. Choosing to do it after school caused her to forget doing it in the first place. So she checked her mail and found the letter that Kyohaku had sent her.

Dear Casana,

You have been chosen to join the group Akatsuki. Consider yourself lucky; you're the first person to be a newbie and be able to join.

Perhaps you don't know of us? We, the Group Akatsuki, is one of the many, many groups in Rock Bell's midst, and the most popular.

Secondly, I have noticed that one of members, Deidara, has a very peculiar interest in you. Have you met before? (He's the Blondie you met yesterday.)

Because you had a very strange affect to him. Never in all the time I knew him has he EVER acted the way he did around you yesterday. Mind you, I've never even seen him blush.

Third and last, please excuse Sasori and me for our behavior the other day. We are sorry, but we had to do it to determine whether you could join or not. You passed the test considerably well. We congratulate you. -Clap clap-

Now read carefully. You must take this letter and present it to me, the one with the long blue hair. (In homeroom) After that, you will be grant immediate access and the letter shall be destroyed. Also, you may want to fill out your profile when you get there.

Signed, Kyohaku.

Yesterday came flooding back. So _that_ was Group Akatsuki! ...Never heard of them.

Casana checked her watch.

"Yikes! I'm late!!"

She shoved the letter into her backpack and hurried out the door without another thought.

Casana arrived to homeroom the minute the tardy bell rang. Taking a deep breath, she took a seat and looked around for Kyohaku mentioned in the letter. Kyohaku sat way in the back, fiddling with her camera in the shadows. She was so interested in her camera that she didn't noticed that she had a letter in front of her.

"Ahem."

"Yeah? Who is it?" Kyohaku replied, still fiddling and looking down.

"It's…Casana…"

"Oh gosh, I'm sorry! I was busy fixing my camera!" Kyohaku apologized, setting the camera down on her desk and slipping the letter out of Casana's fingers. Kyohaku opened the letter carefully and smiled.

"Meet me after school."

The teacher came in.

"Ms. Kusabana, please sit down!" Casana sat down on the desk next to Kyohaku. Kyohaku quickly hid her camera in her backpack and sat up straight. The teacher eyed Kyohaku for a second, then turned his attention to the lesson so he could get started with teaching.

_Later on, after school…_

Kyohaku led Casana over to where the Akatsuki group hung out, also known as the "Akatsuki Hideout". Sure enough, everyone was there waiting, talking amongst themselves.

"Guys," Kyohaku announced. "Meet our newest member, Casana Kusabana. Casana, this is everyone. Kisame, Zetsu, Tobi, Sasori, Deidara, Hidan, Kakuzu, Taylor, and myself."

Casana gave a small smile and said "Hello" in a voice close to a whisper. She was shy.

They all smiled and ad-libbed hellos.

"Nice to meet you, Casa-chan!" Taylor said enthusiastically. "Welcome to the group! We're so glad to have you!"

"Thanks very much, I think."

"Good, now that you've met the gang, I'll need you to fill out your profile." Kyohaku handed her a sheet of paper and a pen. "You can sit there and do it."

"Okay." Casana sat down on the designated spot and went to work.

As she worked, everyone went back to chatting a little and just sitting around, hanging out.

Deidara noticed Casana have trouble, so he went to sit next to her, hoping to help.

"Having trouble?" He inquired.

"Yeah uh, I can't figure out this question here. It says I have to list my PP's, what's PP?"

"Oh, it's the initials for Pet Peeves. Don't worry, I had trouble on that one too, yeah." The blonde told her.

"Really? Oh, okay! Thanks a lot!" She smiled brightly.

Again the blonde blushed and it didn't go unnoticed to Kyohaku, who giggled. "No problem, yeah."

There was a contended silence when-

"Kyohaku!"

They all turned and saw…


	4. Yearbook Humor

"Kyohaku!!"

Kyohaku turned. "What is it, Sakura?"

Sakura was breathing heavily.

"Now that I know where your base is, your group is dead!" Sakura said, pointing an accusing finger at the blue-haired Akatsuki member. To Sakura's surprise, the members merely glanced at each other and snickered. Kyohaku smirked.

"I'm afraid you're out of luck, Sakura."

"What? What are you talking about??"

"This…isn't our base." Kyohaku pointed out. Sakura couldn't believe it. All that work following Kyohaku and it was all for nothing!

"You…I'll kill you!!" Sakura screamed.

"Oh? You and what army?" Kyohaku teased. The other members snickered again. Seeing Sakura this flustered was amusing to them.

At the back of the room, Casana watched with Deidara.

"Deidara…what's going on?" Casana questioned the blonde next to her. Deidara shrugged.

"Don't worry. Kyohaku will take care of this."

At last, Sakura gave up and left stomping. Kyohaku stuck her tongue at the pink-haired junior high student's back, then walked up to Casana and Deidara. She smiled.

"Having fun with each other?" Kyohaku asked, grinning. Deidara laughed.

"That was some show you put on back there.

"Nah, that was mostly Sakura's hot-head barking back at me. You find it amusing, do you?" Kyohaku smirked. "So, has she finished with the basics?"

Deidara nodded.

Casana blinked. "Is it true that this isn't our base?"

Kyohaku shook her head. "Sakura's gullible, she actually fell for it."

Sasori joined them. "Hey, have you guys heard?"

"Heard what?"

"This year's yearbook is going to have a "Couples" section at the back!"

"No way!! Who're they going to PUT there?"

"I don't know, but I do know that they're gonna put Deidara with _Sakura_." Sasori said with disgust, shaking a letter that was hanging loosely between his index and middle finger. Deidara's face nearly went flying off.

"They're putting _me_ with Sakura?! Why??"

"Says here that you two actually show some affection for each other." Sasori read, shrugging. Deidara glanced at Kyohaku.

"Kyohaku, you're in charge of the yearbooks, can't you do something about this?"

"I'll try, Deidara, I'll try. But I can't guarantee anything. Who else are they gonna put?" Kyohaku asked, leaning over to read the piece of paper. Sasori handed it to her.

"Hm…oh wow…they're going to put Naruto and Sasuke as a _couple_??" Kyohaku stared at the letter in disbelief. Deidara muttered, "Wow, they put gay couplings too? Geez." While Casana just stood there, looking on quizzically.

"Who else are they putting?" Kyohaku questioned.

Sasori glanced at the letter. "Hmm…well what do ya know, you and me!"

"Seriously?!" Kyohaku snatched the letter and looked at it. "Awesome! And look, they're also putting...oh my God! No way!" She started to laugh.

Sasori glanced over her shoulder. "No way! They're putting Shikamaru and Ino!"

"I think they're cute together." Tay shrugged.

"So do I." Kisame agreed.

"Anyone with me?" Tobi asked, jumping about.

Everyone just shrugged.

Kyohaku read on through the letter. "Hmm…these couples seem to be in good order…although there is a couple I'd like to tweak around if I can…but really, Deidara and Sakura?! That's really stupid." At the corner of her eye she could've sworn she caught a twinge of jealousy in Casana's eyes.

"I don't even like her." The blonde grumbled.

_The feelings mutual. _Casana thought, letting out a sigh of relief. Wait…what?

"Any other stupid pairings we should know about?" Tay questioned, coming over to see.

Kyohaku scanned the letter again. "No, not really…look Tay! They're putting you with Kisame!"

"They are?!" The soccer maniac's brown eyes widened.

"Seriously!?" Kisame chimed in.

"Well, it does say so and that you two seem to really create chemistry all right." Sasori added.

The two glanced at each other and then looked away and blushed.

"So yeah, the other couples here seem to be good. Oh hey look Casana, they're putting you with…Rock Lee?!" Kyohaku raised an eyebrow.

Deidara clenched a fist, but then unclenched it, and it didn't go unnoticed to Sasori.

_Well well well! _The red-head thought. _I think someone's jealous!_

"You mean the guy with that hairdo and thick eyebrows?" Casana shrugged. "Well, he's really not that bad, it could be worse."

"I'll see what I can do." Kyohaku responded.

The group was silent for a while.

"So, when do we eat?" Tobi asked, appearing to be grinning.

Everyone looked at him weird.

"…What? I'm hungry."

Looking through the letter once more, Kyohaku hid a smirk. This was going to be so much fun.

_The next day at the base…_

Kyohaku got a list of all the couples to be in the yearbook, and another list for the replacement couples if one of the couples were somewhat troubled. She brought the lists with here to announce who and who would be together in the yearbook and if anybody didn't like it, what they would be paired up with in exchange.

The members were all huddled around an oval-shaped table –everyone except the blue-haired mystery member and the leader of course- to see who they were with. Kyohaku cleared her throat.

"Deidara, I managed to get you separated from Sakura…" At this point, Casana started relaxing. "And I managed to get Casana away from Lee." Deidara felt himself breath a sigh of relief the moment those words left Kyohaku's mouth. Kyohaku glanced at the two of them and let out a sudden laugh.

"But, in exchange, it looks like you two have to be the couple replacement."

"_What?!_" Deidara and Casana both yelled, jumping up from their chairs. They looked at each and blushed, then turned their attention back to Kyohaku.

"Yep, you guys are now officially a school couple!" Kyohaku repeated, smiling.

Deidara didn't seemed very pleased with that answer.

"No way! How could they pair us up?"

"Sorry, Deidara. I can't do anything about it now, unless you want to be paired with Itachi." Kyohaku said, shrugging. Deidara looked at her blankly.

"Itachi? I'm going to be paired with Itachi if I'm not paired with Casana?"

"Yep."

Deidara fell silent and returned to his seat. So did Casana.

"As for Itachi, well, he's…" Kyohaku let out a small giggle, "with the famous shy girl, Hinata."

Itachi remaned silent and emotionless. Hinata was, well, known for her shy personality. It was a part of her, the part that made her partially popular, though she was sometimes referred to as "stuck up", she has a very kind, nurturing heart. It's her shyness that stands in her way of being popular.

"Of course, Kisame is paired up with little Tay over there! And, get this, the Leader…he's paired up with Flower-chan!!"

Everyone's eyes nearly bugged out. "Flower-chan?? With the Leader!?"

Kyohaku nodded. "Yep! And they don't even have a replacement couple! They're stuck together!"

Her cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

"STOP THAT COUPLE FROM ENTERING THE YEARBOOK THIS INSTANT!!!!"

Kyohaku held the phone several inches from her ear, and the Leader's voice echoed throughout the hideout.

"Right. Okay, sir." She ended the phone call right there and rubbed her ears gently.

"Ow. Okay, you know our fellow annoying Tobi-"

"Tobi is a good boy!" Tobi blurted out. Kyohaku sighed.

"Yes, I've noticed. Now, Tobi is with…Zetsu…" Kyohaku said, her voice fading in amazment at the end of her sentence.

"Yay! Zetsu-san!! We're together!" Tobi yelled from the back of the room. "Wait…is that good or bad?"

Deidara eyes twitched. Sasori stared at Kyohaku. Casana looked over to Zetsu, then to Tobi, then to Zetsu, then to Tobi again and blinked.

"Okay then!! Hidan is well, with the member that cries, "Money, money, money, money, money… Did you guess who it is?"

Everyone yelled out "Kakuzu!" except Hidan, who was too angry to say Kakuzu's name, and Kakuzu, who yelled, "Me!" instead.

Hidan started babbling about how he could've deserved this since he was so loyal to his God and asked Kyohaku to change it immediately. Kakuzu didn't really seem all that pleased either, but at least he didn't complain or whine all the time like Hidan did. Kyohaku was on the verge of saying, "Shut up about Jashin, you religious retard!"

But then another member started saying that the couple was alright, and the two started arguing while Casana and Tobi tried to calm them down. Of course, Hidan and the other member both barked at them to stay out of it, and Deidara spoke up in Casana's defense. Soon, the place was in utter chaos.

Well, Kyohaku couldn't take any of the noise any more. She flipped open her cell phone and put the volume on max, then let her ring tone blast out of the speaker until everyone became quiet. She cleared her throat.

"Thank you for being so cooperative, guys." She said sarcastically.

"Um Kyohaku," Casana spoke up. "For all that's it worth, we didn't mean to cause a bit of a hoopla. I can't really speak for all of us, but, I think that somehow we'll adjust to all this and just go on with it like we should."

Kyohaku let that sink in and nodded at her, a small smile curling on her lips. "Okay. Thank you, Casana."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Um…yay?" Tobi said.

Kisame grinned. "I don't mind being with Tay in this one!"

"And I don't mind being with Kisa." Tay added, blushing slightly.

"Good. Glad to hear it." Kyohaku put everything together. "Meeting adjourned."

They all stood and started to head out, hoping none of their peers would see them leaving. Well it was after school so hopefully they were lucky.

"So, with the alterations you made, you're going to go with that?" Sasori questioned Kyohaku as they left the school.

"Yep!" Kyohaku nodded, straightening her backpack more over her shoulder. "I think it'll work out just fine!"

"I sure hope so."

"Not to worry, I have my ways." The blue-haired girl smirked. Although it was more a grin.

"See you guys!" Kisame waved as he and Taylor trouped out the back door to the soccer field. They had soccer practice.

"Let's go kick and kick!" Taylor squealed, pumping a fist into the air. "Boo-yeah!"

Kisame laughed heartily. "Okay, sista!"

Grabbing his backpack and bringing it over his shoulder, Deidara faced Casana and cleared his throat.

"Um…would you mind if I walked you home?"

Casana blinked a couple of times. But she smiled sweetly. "Sure, I'd love that."

Trying not to blush, they too went out the doors to head out.

Hopefully the yearbook will turn out as good as they all hoped.


	5. Head Problems

_The days go by…_

Kyohaku sat at her desk, working on her homework and going over a few things for the yearbook, as well as the "Couples Page" hoopla thing. Luckily most of the couples were in good order, and she may have had to tweak a few, but, she made sure it would work out in the end.

Also, there were two members of the gang that she was sure would be great together. Besides, the two said members weren't all opposed to the idea, anyway.

While she worked, she then felt a painful throbbing in her head. "Aaagh!!" She hissed, her eyes shutting. Was she getting a headache?

This strange pains deep in her head were really affecting her all right. The pain was unbearable, and for some reason, Kyohaku couldn't seem to remember what she'd had done last week.

Once the pain subsided, Kyohaku went and took a couple of Advil before getting back to work. Once more she looked over the couple's list for the yearbook.

She smiled to herself. This was going to be fun.

_The next day…_

Sasori came to Kyohaku's house so the two could walk to school together like they usually did. He'd called last night and there was no answer, which was really weird.

Entering the house, he called in. "Hello? Anyone home?"

He remembered that her parents were away on a business trip and her sister was out of town for a while, so, she had the house to herself.

"Kyohaku? Hello? You ready?" Sasori went up the stairs to Kyohaku's room, the door was closed. "Hello?" He rapped lightly on the door. "Kyohaku? You in here?"

Shrugging, he opened the door and peered inside. "Hello?" He went into the room.

There was a dead silence.

"Oh…my…GOD! Kyohaku!!!!"

_Later that day, the Kusabana residence…_

_RING! RING! RING!_

Casana, who was on her bed doing her homework, reached for the phone on the bedside table and answered it. "Hello?"

"Casana-chan? It's Tay. Have you heard? Kyohaku is in the Hospital!" Tay sounded a bit frantic and panicky.

"What?!" Casana shot up. She'd been wondering why Kyohaku wasn't at school today. Come to think of it, Sasori wasn't either. "Is she all right? What's wrong with her?"

"We're not sure. Sasori showed up at her house this morning and he found her on the floor of her bedroom unconscious or something! He rushed her to the ER. We came here after school and I've been calling everyone to tell them about it! We kinda hoped we'd all be around when she came to, hopefully." Tay murmured, sounding worried.

"Oh my gosh! Okay, sit tight, I'll be right there!" Casana hung up the phone and hurried downstairs. "Mom! Dad! I'm going to the Hospital to visit a friend! I'll be back later!"

"Okay, honey!" Mrs. Kusabana called from the kitchen.

And she was out the door.

_At the Hospital, in the lobby…_

"Sasori, calm down and stop pacing!" Kisame said. "We're all worried about Kyohaku, but pacing about isn't helping!"

Sasori sighed. "I know, but I'm scared for her! What if she has something fatal?!"

"Just calm down." Deidara assured his friend, sitting him down on a nearby chair. "Kyohaku is going to be fine, don't worry. It might be a bit of a reaction to the headaches she's been having lately. So just relax, everything will be fine."

Sasori bit his lip and clenched his hands against his lap. "I sure hope so. I'm really worried for her."

"I know, we all are." Tay agreed, unknowingly hugging Kisame's arm. "She should be okay, I really hope she will be."

They all fell silent again for a while.

Deidara stood, with the intention of offering to get a few things for everyone, when he turned and saw Casana hurrying in through the entrance toward them. "Casana!"

She came to a stop by the blonde and caught her breath. "I heard, I came as fast as I could."

A doctor came in. "Excuse me, we're looking for Kyohaku Shiruba's parents, are they around?"

"Uh no Doctor, they're away on a business trip in the United States and her older sister is out of town." Sasori explained.

"I see." Said the doctor. "Well, I think your friend might be all right. You see, there's still very little we know about the power of love, and just a few minutes ago, Kyohaku spoke out someone's name and seemed to draw strength from it. Which of you is Sasori?"

"Oh, that's me." Said Sasori.

It may have been a small town, but this doctor was new.

"Come this way, I think having you in the room with maybe help her come out of it." The doctor started to lead Sasori away.

"Um, excuse me Doctor," Tay spoke up. "Do you know what's wrong with her?"

"Unfortunately, nothing as of yet. We're still running tests and making a few estimates as to what could have caused her to collapse like she did. As Sasori told us earlier, it must have something to do with her head considering she has been suffering severe headache symptoms and such."

The doctor took Sasori away, leaving the group to sit around, worried and nervous.

Tay squeezed Kisame's arm, not caring, and buried her face in his sleeve. Kisame whispered reassurances to her, and not caring one bit about her grip. Not just because he liked her, or because she wasn't hurting him, but because she needed to be close to someone at this kind of time.

Casana looked ready to cry. She was really worried. "Oh God I hope she's okay…"

Without thinking, Deidara stood up and went over to her and brought his arms around her in a comforting hug. "Don't worry, she'll be fine."

"Oh Deidara I hope so. She's gotta be." She murmured tearfully into the blonde's shirt.

She cried a little, and the blonde hugged her comfortingly, occasionally whispering reassurances to her.

Tobi and Zetsu, who'd been surprisingly quiet the whole time, just looked on with all that had been going on. Despite that they were really worried for Kyohaku now, they also couldn't help but giggle.

"Zetsu-san, you think Kyo-chan's gonna be okay?" Tobi questioned his friend.

"I hope so." Zetsu replied. "It wouldn't be the same without her."

"That's for sure."

"Here she is", the doctor said, leading Sasori into Kyohaku's room. The room was silent, with an exception of some sounds from the equipment. Sasori sat down on a chair next to Kyohaku's bed and held her hand.

"Kyohaku? It's me."

Kyohaku remained silent. The doctor left the room quietly, leaving them alone.

At that moment, her finger slightly twitched.

"Kyohaku? Are you alright?" Sasori asked, hopefully.

"Sa-Sasori? I-Is that you…?" Kyohaku murmured out. Sasori felt a slight grip on his hand.

"Yeah, Kyohaku. It's me."

Kyohaku slowly opened her eyes. Sasori stood up. Once Kyohaku fully opened her eyes, she blinked and sat up.

"Where in the world am I?" Kyohaku asked, blinking.

"Y-You're in the hospital."

"…Okay, _why_ am I in the hospital?"

"I found you collapsed on your bedroom floor this morning. I thought…well, the important thing is, you're awake now. I-I'll go get the doctors." With that, Sasori left the room.

Kyohaku remained still.

'_The hospital…? Huh. I don't get it.'_

Sasori was found running down to speak with the other members of AKatsuki.

"Guys! She's alright!"

"Really??" Casana asked, with a mixture of uncertainness and relief. She stood up along with all the other members. Sasori nodded, then motioned for them to follow him into her room. They all did so.

The doctors were already inside.

Kyohaku was just stepping out of the room when Sasori and the others arrived. Casana pulled her into a hug.

"Kyohaku! I was so worried…are you okay now?"

Kyohaku laughed. "I'm fine. You can let me go now."

"How's Kyohaku?" Taylor asked the doctor, and the doctor smiled.

"She seems fine, at the moment. She'll be out of the hospital until we can find any further problems." The doctor informed her. Taylor let out a sigh of relief.

Casana finally let Kyohaku go and returned to Deidara's side.

"I'm so glad you're okay."

"Same here." Deidara said, grinning. Kyohaku looked around.

"Have you guys all been waiting for me? This long?"

"Of course we have!" Tobi exclaimed. "We were all very worried about you, Kyohaku!" All the members nodded in agreement. Kyohaku looked amazed.

"Wow. Thanks a lot, guys." She managed a smile. Sasori took her arm.

"Come on. Let's go to your house."

"Okay."

_The next day…_

Kyohaku was released from the Hospital the following morning. She was fine for now, although every now and then she had a bit of a throbbing in her head. But it was bearable.

It was Saturday and she'd missed school yesterday.

Also it was movie night with the gang, so there was something to look forward too. Since the gang mostly watched horror movies, she could use a good one. Best of all, Casana wasn't afraid of them in the least, Tay was though, she always clung to the nearest person, which was usually Kisame, and always looked ready to scream.

Then again there was last Saturday when they'd all watched _Day of the Dead_ and Casana was whimpering and screaming at scary moments and clinging to Deidara the entire time. (That's a zombie flick from the 80's! The remake isn't out yet.)

Well how was she supposed to know that Casana was afraid of zombies?

Deciding that now was as good a time as any, she headed to the video rental store to look for a good movie. Hmm…maybe _House of Wax _or _The Ring_. Heck, she was in the mood to make Casana scared, so may _Dawn of the Dead _would be a good option.

Besides, she and Tay would be clinging to their "boyfriends".

She may have a bit of something possibly wrong with her head, but that didn't mean she wasn't up for Movie Night.

_Later on…_

Relieved that Kyohaku was all right, Casana headed home, and as usual, her two-year-old baby brother Eri came running in and hugged his sister's legs. (Actually her brother, before he died, was only two years younger than she was)

"Casa Casa!" He giggled, pulling back and opening his arms, wordlessly asking her to pick him up.

She smiled and picked him up. "Nice to see you too, Squirt. Ooh, you're getting heavy. Where's Mommy?"

"Mommy out." Eri pouted. "Daddy in the living woom."

She giggled and brought her brother to the playroom. It was time for some sibling bonding.

Even though relieved, Sasori was still a touch worried about Kyohaku and the possible turn outs of all this. The doctors were continuing to run some tests to seek out the problem, and they had no idea as to what could've caused Kyohaku to collapse. It wasn't of hunger, or dehydration, or fatigue.

Maybe her headaches had something to do with it?

Sighing, Sasori stood and went to go take a shower. Maybe that would clear his head and get his mind off things.

Maybe after he'll go visit Kyohaku to make sure she's all right before the gang came by tonight for the movie. They usually had it at Kyohaku's since the house was bigger. Casana had a big basement, but since she'd only moved to Japan a few weeks earlier, there were still some unpacked boxes around the house and in the basement, so, they had to wait.

Well, that really didn't matter at the moment.

He took his shower, pulled on some clean clothes and headed towards Kyohaku's house.

When Sasori reached her house, he knocked and got no answer. He knocked again and got a weak, "Come in."

When he entered, he found Kyohaku lying down on the couch, her arm covering her eyes.

"Kyohaku, are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, nothing major." Kyohaku said, sitting up. There was an akward silence between them before it was cut by a beeping sound. Kyohaku suddenly brightened.

"Ah! The popcorn is ready!"

Sasori watched closely as she got up and prepared everything for Movie Night. Maybe he should help her, but Kyohaku seemed fine on her own. So he just relaxed onto the sofa and waited. Soon, Casana and Taylor, along with their 'boyfriends' came.

"Hi!" Kyohaku greeted them. Casana smiled.

"Are you okay today, Kyohaku?"

Kyohaku rolled her eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you? I'm fine!"

"We just wanted to make sure!"

"Well, come on in. You girls can help me out. Deidara, Kisame, you can go join Sasori over there."

"Sure."

"Okay, then."

Once all the members arrived and all the preperations were ready, Kyohaku popped in the movie and turned it on. And even though it was strangely amusing to watch Casana be spooked for a _second_ time, Kyohaku found herself slightly biting a pillow she was unknowingly hugging. She didn't have any more headaches for the rest of the day, which allowed the members to relax for the night. But none of them could even think of what was to happen the next day.


	6. Criminal Actions

**Group Akatsuki**

Yawning loudly as she sat up, Kyohaku rubbed the sleep from her eyes and blinked them open. She'd fallen asleep on her living room couch when they'd all been watching the movie. Sure enough, the whole group was asleep around the living room.

Her head was throbbing slightly, but that was probably from the glare of the sunlight streaming in through the big bay window.

"Kyohaku?"

She looked to her left, Sasori was waking up on the other side of the sofa. "Oh, morning Sasori. How long you been awake?"

"A few minutes. Looks like everyone couldn't make it, eh?" He gestured toward everyone else.

Kyohaku chuckled. "Sure looks that way! By the way, you know how all of us in the group, we've each committed at least one crime?"

"Oh, yeah. What about it?" Sasori raised an eyebrow.

"Well, since Casana just recently joined…even now I can see she never committed a crime. So, I think…that since she's one of us now, we should put her through a phase of initiation."

"You mean by…committing a crime?"

"Yeah! Well, nothing big of course. But small like we all did. Like…I don't know, robbing a store or something. And don't worry, I have a fool proof plan that'll get her through the crime…and she won't get caught."

"But what if she does?"

"I'll tell them I was the one that influenced her."

"Well…you kind of are."

"Exactly!"

"Okay, we'll have to run it by her when she wakes up."

_Later on…_

Everyone sat around while Casana was on the phone with Pein, the Leader of the group.

"Kyohaku is right, all the members of the group have committed at least one crime. Now, in order to be fully accepted, you must commit a crime of your own in order to really prove you are Akatsuki material. Are you willing to do it?"

"Yes." Said Casana, a little unsure.

"Good. Now then, your task is to rob your favourite store. That's all." Click.

Casana hung the phone up and faced Kyohaku. "He says I have to rob my favourite store."

"See? That's easy! What's your favourite store?"

"Chapter Stop." It was a Chapters bookstore that was also a convenience store combined.

"All right then, here's the plan. I'm gonna hack into the store's computer system and turn off the security system and switch the surveillance camera to VCR so it won't catch you. But just to be safe, you'll enter from the back door dressed all in back with a black backpack." Kyohaku directed.

"Okay, I guess I can do it."

"Atta girl! And don't worry, I know what I'm doing. I've done it before. All you have to do is slip in, take whatever you want, and then slip back out. Couldn't be easier."

"But….it looks like we'll have to share, huh?" Tobi asked. The two girls blinked.

"Eh?"

"I mean, share what we did…..right? Since we're a group?" Tobi suggested. Everyone glanced at each other and shrugged.

"Sure….why not?"

"Okay then."

"Fine by me."

"Alright, then, everyone form a circle! Sharing time!!" Tobi exclaimed, clapping his hands together. Everyone looked at him like, 'Are you serious? We're not two years old, Tobi'. Kyohaku's eyes narrowed at him.

"Just who made you boss?"

"Okay! Now, where were we?" The blue-haired Akatsuki member said, dusting her hands off and smiling sweetly. Deidara shivered.

"Wow, she's scary…"

"What was that, blondie?"

"Er…nothing…."

"Heh heh, great! Now, let's huddle." Kyohaku said, chuckling. Everyone obediently did so. The order of the people in the circle starting from Kyohaku was: Kyohaku, Deidara, Casana, Tobi (amazingly, he could still stand….), Hidan, Kakuzu, Taylor, Kisame, Sasori, Itachi, and Zetsu.

Kyohaku was the first to start. She dug inside her messenger bag that she hauls to school until she found what she was looking for.

"Well, what I do is paint…using graffiti!" she said, tossing a spray can up into the air. "That, and I also specialize in hacking into top secret files. Security hacking is no problemo!" She grabbed the can out of the air and stuffed it back into her bag.

"Of course, Kyohaku has been to the school's office so many times she can stand because of that." Tobi chimed in.

"If you don't want to die, shut up, Tobi. _Anyway,_ Deidara-kun, it's your turn for show-and-tell." The blue-haired teenager shot a glare at Tobi, then turned her glance to Deidara and nodded.

"Sure." The well-known blond said. "It's sort of crazy, really, but I had to go through a phase of initiation just like you, Casa-chan."

Casana raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Really? Well, glad to know I'm not the only one."

"The only difference is that Deidara's order was a _lot_ more challenging than yours, Casana…." Kyohaku explained, quietly.

"Huh? How much??" Casana inquired curiously. Kyohaku looked at Deidara, who sighed.

"Well, I just blew some random place up."

Kyohaku shut her eyes closed. '_Wait for it…._' She thought.

"_What_?!" Casana blurted out. Kyohaku opened one eye to examine the scene. Casana's face looked like it was about to fall off, and Deidara's held an expression of shame.

"The Leader really ordered you to do that?? Why??"

"You see….the Leader tends to give the easy tasks to the ladies and the tougher ones to the guys." Taylor explained.

"But still! Blow someplace up? Where's the point in that??" Casana pointed out. Kyohaku glanced at Deidara again and smirked.

"Actually, the blond really seemed to like doing it…" Kyohaku started. The brunette blinked.

"What?"

"You should've seen him! He yelled 'Awesome!!' right after the building blew up and got himself chased by the police!!" Kyohaku said, almost a bit too cheerfully.

"Hey!"

"What? It's true, isn't it?" Kyohaku pointed out. Deidara practically growled at her, but after a while, he calmed down and agreed.

They moved on to Tobi, which, of course, _nobody_ would expect to commit a crime. Tobi smiled under his orange mask and said, "I robbed a candy store so that it went out of stock."

Kyohaku raised an eyebrow and sighed. "That's really nothing to be proud about, Tobi."

"Well, of course, Kyo-chan helped me out by disabling the shop's security so that I could do it pretty easily." Tobi said, still smiling. Casana gaped, simply because she couldn't believe it, but of course, she had it coming to her. Nobody said a word until Hidan yelled, "My turn!"

"I confronted the police and told them about Jashin, and you know what they did?? They told me to $#& get lost. So I 'consulted them with dangerous objects' (it was a rock.) and started swearing in front of them." Hidan said.

"Yeah, then I had to beat the crap out of them when I found out they were chasing you. Stupid Hidan." Sasori muttered. Hidan's eye twitched.

"What was that, you #&?"

"….My image of you guys is shattering to pieces right now." Casana announced. Kyohaku stuck her tongue out in a playful manner and sweat dropped.

"Well, we really expected that….Deidara said the same when we told him…"

"Really? Deidara did?"

"Yep. Now, you two, break it up!!" Kyohaku ordered the two Akatsuki members. Hidan didn't like the sound of that, obviously.

"Shut up, you $# mother fer!! I won't take orders from you!!"

"You keep your mouth shut, Hidan. AND STOP WITH THE DAMN CUSS WORDS!!!" Kyohaku barked back. Then Kyohaku's cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

"….Just what the Hell are you two doing? When are you going to execute the plan?"

"Sure, I'll go get a machete and chop the plan in half. Good enough for you?"

"That's not what I meant!!" Blue's voice snapped.

"Yeah, yeah, sure….Say, having fun watching us battle? After all, I _did_ plant secret cameras here for you…."

"Yes, very amusing. But the Leader's getting impatient, so hurry up with the introductions and get on with it."

"Okay, okay! Bye." She said, waving a hand and her eyes darting towards the camera as she hung up the phone. Kakuzu waited.

"Right. Kakuzu, your turn."

"I robbed the local bank." Kakuzu said.

"Eh?!? Robbed a bank?! Is that really minor?!" Casana blurted. Kyohaku sighed.

"Yeah, for Kakuzu apparently."

"Who cares, it was _totally_ worth all the trouble. I got all the sweet money…."

"….You sound like Mr. Krabs from Spongebob."

"Shut up."

Tay raised her hand. "I snuck into the soccer stadium one time when David Beckham and his team were in town to play against Japan, and I went to the locker room and held him hostage so I could meet him!" She snickered. "I got charged with breaking an entry, hostage holding and assault. But luckily I got off with doing Community Service for six months!"

Everyone snickered at the memory.

"Well…as bad as that is, I can understand that." Said Casana, cracking a smile. "I bet I would've done the same if Avril Lavigne or Queen Latifah was in town!"

"As for me," Kisame chimed in. "I went to the store in town, stole and ate all the fish in the freezer. Except for the squid, it was yucky."

Tay laughed and whacked him on the arm playfully. "Trust you to be involved with a fishy crime!"

"Hey!" He laughed, ruffling her hair.

_They should definitely go out._ Kyohaku thought. "Sasori-kun? Won't you tell us what _you_ did?"

"Well, I stole illegal imported wood while out on a trip." Said the red-head.

"_What_?!" Casana gasped. "What did you do with it?"

"Made puppets, of course. And I put the leftovers in the fireplace."

"You didn't get caught?" Said Tobi.

"Yes, I did. I had to plant 42 trees to make up for it." Sasori sighed.

"Good thing, it helps the eco system." Said Casana.

"Yeah…sure…" Sasori muttered.

"So, so, Ita-nii? Your turn!"

"STOP CALLING ME THAT."

"Sorry! Ugh, you get pissed waaaay too easily."

"….As for me, I've committed murder…"

"…Wait, I don't think I heard you clearly. Did you just say that you _killed_ someone?" Casan asked, nervously. Itachi blinked.

"Yeah, that's what I said."

Casana stared wide eyed at Itachi and mouthed the words, 'OH MY GOD.'

Kyohaku eyed her brunette friend a bit peculiarly and smiled.

"That's Ita-nii for you."

"I told you to stop calling me that. Otherwise, you're next."

Then everyone looked at Zetsu. Zetsu stared at the rest of them blankly.

"I'm a cannibal." He said emotionlessly. Casana's eye twitched as she imagined the group with their 'true nature'. She shivered.

"Mm-hmm! So that's everyone?" Kyohaku looked about the group.

They all exchanged a few looks.

"Well our little newbie here's gotta do her share." Deidara grinned, throwing an arm around Casana's shoulder, making her blush.

"Yep!" Kyohaku put everything away. "We'll initiate the plan tonight at 8:00. Don't be late!"

They all gave the Akatsuki Salute.

"Be ready, sweetie." Kyohaku said to Casana, grinning.

"Okay…I'll do my best."

"And don't worry, if anything happens, we've got your back."

_Back of Chapter Stop, 8:00 PM…_

"Okay! I've got the security system up and going, just gonna shut it down!" Kyohaku said as she typed away on her laptop she'd brought with her. "Okay, once I switch the security camera to VCR, you go on in!"

"Right!" Said Casana. She was dressed in a black hoodie, black pants, gloves, had a black backpack.

They were all behind the store, near the backdoor.

"All right! You're good! Go!" Kyohaku whispered.

Stepping back, Casana lifted her black combat boot clad foot and kicked down the door. It was a wooden door so it was easy.

Everyone stared in surprise, Deidara's jaw dropped. _Wow! _He thought.

"What? I took karate." Casana explained, and then she slipped inside.

She went to an aisle, looked among the books, then opened the bag, and put a few of them in. Nearby she noticed some of her favourite treats all in a row, and so she grabbed a few of those. Nobody even seemed to notice.

"Let's see if these radios will work. Testing….Casana, you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Kyo-chan." Casana replied quietly. Kyohaku nodded.

"…What're you gonna do about the door?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

Now some of the customers gave Casana glances here and there, mostly because she looked a lot like Hanamija from Fruits Basket. They wondered if she could send poison waves too. But most people just shrugged it off. I mean, really, poison waves? No way.

Casana sighed. She couldn't believe she was actually doing this.

"Casana? Make sure you're careful, people are looking at you."

"Right." Casana whispered into the radio. She looked around to see if anyone was watching her, then as carefully as she could, she reached out…

And then someone spotted her and yelled, "Stop right there, thief!!"

Casana cringed. Dang! She was found!

Everything was silent for a moment as the people's heads turned to Casana in curiosity. Casana pressed the speaker closer to her mouth and whispered, "I've been spotted."

"I know." Came the reply. "On three, I'm turning off all the electricity in the store. Do you know which way to run towards?"

"Ah….yeah, I see the door I came through."

"Right, on three, you have to run as FAST as you can towards it. Okay? One, two, three!"

At that moment, the lights blanked out and the screams started emerging from the store. One person yelled, "Somebody catch her!!" but it was too dark to pinpoint the perpetrator easily.

"She just pushed by me!"

"I think I see her!"

"Hurry!!"

Casana bit her lip and kept running. _How did I know it would turn out like this??_

Kyohaku gathered her things. "C'mon guys, if anybody find us here, we're all in big trouble."

"Kyohaku! I'm nearly out the entrance!"

"Yeah, I see you. Casana, now, let's ditch this place!!"

Casana came running out of the back door.

"That….was really scary…." Casana said, shivering. "I really don't want to do that again!"

Kyohaku smiled. "Don't worry, you won't have to. Nice job, got what you wanted?"

Casana grinned. "Yep. Looking at the bright side."

Deidara looked at his watch. "We'd better go before they find us."

"You're not boss, Deidara." Kyohaku retorted, sticker her tongue. Deidara rolled his eyes.

"But you aren't either, Kyohaku." Deidara pointed out.

"Shut up."

"….Can we go now? They're gonna find us." Casana said, looking around for customers. They were still inside the bookstore panicking.

"Alright, let's go!"

_The next day_….

The students at Rockbell Junior High were gossiping about the robbery at Chapter Shop that has been all over the front page of the newspaper.

"Did you hear about the robbery??"

"Yeah, and I have a weird feeling it was one of the Akatsuki."

"Well, duh, each one of them has commited a deadly crime for no reason at all!"

"And with their new member….poor Casana, they must've made her do something like this by force!"

Kyohaku heard rumors and gossips about the Chapter Stop robbery and about how the Akatsuki were connected to it in some way. Of course, she wasn't about to tell them the rumors were true. Casana was getting nervous about the news, though, and Kyohaku worried that Casana might give away the fact that she was the thief.

Sakura had already found out from the description, "Wearing all black, with chocolate brown hair, and an occasional flash of red inside the hood. Who else could it be? Casana should've been more careful. But no matter. Time to get her revenge on Kyohaku for humiliating her like that.

One….

Two…

Three…

Time to execute the plan! Sakura thought, smirking.

Sakura ran down the school's hall towards Casana.

"Hey, Casana!!"


	7. Plans of Revenge

**Group Akatsuki**

Pursing her lips, Casana looked at her. "What is it?"

"Is that any way to talk to a friend?" Sakura looked hurt.

"But we're not friends, Sakura. Anyway, get to the point."

"Well, I know who the Chapter Stop thief is." Sakura smiled.

Casana stiffened and tensed. "Uh…yeah? W-who?"

"C'mon honey, I know it was you."

Her eyes widened. "H-how did you know?"

"It was easy, and I recognized your hair. Anyway, why would a bright, creative and sweet person like you be drawn to the horrible group?"

"Well…um…they…" Casana began.

"They're the school's biggest criminals and are just…absolute scumbags! I wouldn't be surprised if they only had you join so you could be their…sex slave."

"Sex slave?!"

"Yes, honey. They could be…_using _youas far as we all know. Before you came to this school and joined them…you had a life free of crime and risk, a carefree loving life of being around people you love in a place you feel you call home. And now…they've turned you into one of them. A low-life, dirty, rotten, scumbag criminal. Just like they are." Sakura said solemnly.

Casana looked absolutely surprised. "I can't believe it…they seemed so nice socially…and…well. Could it be that I'm really…just a toy to them? That they really don't care about me?"

"They're criminals, Casana. And the worst kids in school. How could they POSSIBLY care for a transfer student from Canada who doesn't know a thing about committing a crime? And another thing, Kyohaku…she brings an axe to school almost everyday."

"But…she told me it was because the district had asked her to help her chop down a dead tree in the school yard." Casana said.

"Silly…that's exactly what she _wants_ you to think. But if the school district really wanted to get rid of a tree…wouldn't they just hire a logging company executive to do it?" Sakura pointed out.

Casana opened her mouth to answer, but then closed it. "Oh my God…"

"I know hon, it's so awful to hear, isn't it? People who you _thought_ were your friends…turns out to be just a huge façade. A sham…a fake. They are nothing but slick con artists, thieves and murderers. No place for a girl like you."

"I don't understand it…I thought…I really thought they…"

"We all think that sometimes, sweetie. And not everything is as it seems. And you know Tay? She's a horrible back-stabbing bitch in disguise. She pretends to be all nice to you on the outside…and when you're not around, she talks horribly of you."

"Oh my God…" That sure explained the time Tay had yelled so angrily at Sakura. "It all makes sense now…"

"Yes Casana, that Akatsuki….are only using you. They HATE your guts. I've heard them talk badly of you when you weren't around…it's awful."

Casana squeezed her books and looked at the floor, feeling sad. "…I can't believe it. Excuse me, I need to be alone now." She turned and headed down the hall.

Sakura looked after her, smirking. _Mission accomplished._

Kyohaku waited out in the school's yard patiently waiting for the other members to gather around to start their meeting. Almost 30 minutes later, everyone had arrived. Everyone, that is, but Casana.

"I wonder where she is…" Taylor muttered. Kyohaku's eyes scanned the place around for a sign of the brunette and she shook her head.

"I can't find her anywhere."

Actually, Casana was very close to them. She was hiding behind the corner listening to their conversation.

"I can't believe she didn't come. She comes everyday!"

She heard unzipping. A few gasps came from the Akatsuki members.

"Well, I have to take care of some business. I'm sorry guys, I'm gonna have to leave the meeting early." Kyoaku's voice announced. After murmurs of agreements from the crowd, Kyohaku stood up and walked-right towards where Casana was hiding. As her footsteps came nearer, Casana panicked and ran _smack_ into another student. A teenage girl with long purple hair, who looked strangely a lot like Kyohaku. Casana let out an unexpected yelp of surprised and stumbled down. The girl she bumped into didn't even seem to be surprised.

"O-Oh, I'm sorry…"

"It's alright, but watch where you're going next time." The girl replied, staring straight ahead. Casana looked behind her.

Kyohaku stood there quietly, with the axe glinting at her side. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Casana! What're you doing here? The other members are waiting for you!"

"U-Um…..why do you have an axe right now?" Casana stammered. Kyohaku blinked, then looked at the axe by her.

"Like I said, I need to chop down the dead tree. Oh yes, hello…..Kyoto."

Said Kyoto looked at the blue-haired girl calmly. Kyohaku returned her glance.

"What brings you here?"

"I was just waiting for the meeting to be over, so I could meet Itachi."

"Ah, I see….how's being a Vampyre?"

"Fine, thank you." Kyoto replied with a default tone. Casana picked herself up, dusted herself off, and was about to leave when suddenly, Deidara appeared.

"Hey, Casa-chan? What're you doing? You coming to the meeting?"

"U-Um, actually, I-"

"Of course she's coming to the meeting! Right, Casana?"

"N-no! Actually, I wanted to ask if I could….if I could…."

The two waited patiently for Casana to finish her sentence. Casana looked away and said, "I want out of the group."

"What?!" Kyohaku yelled, dropping her "weapon" suddenly. It clattered to the floor.

"Why?!?" Deidara exclaimed, equally as surprised.

"Sakura told me….you guys were…"

"Sakura?? So she's behind this?!" Taylor asked, running around the corner.

"Why that sly, devious, little pink-haired brat….I oughta…." Kyohaku growled under her breath. Casana blinked, then thought of all the things Kyohaku might do to Sakura. She put her hands out in front of her as some sort of feeble shield and stammered, "N-No, th-that's really not necessary!!" as Kyohaku picked up the axe.

"Oh yes it is." Kyohaku muttered, gripping the axe. "That bitch nearly lost us a member!"

"Why would you guys even care?! I'm nothing you'd all miss!" Casana protested.

The three of them stared at her.

"That's a load of crap! You actually think we don't care about you!?" Tay said as if it were the most ridiculous thing she'd heard. "That's not true! Of course we do!"

"She's right, and whatever the hell that pink-haired demon told you about us are LIES!" Kyohaku stated before she headed down the hall with the axe in hand.

The brown-haired girl looked at the floor, ashamed.

"Casana-chan, you know we care about you. We all care about each other!" Said Tay, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Don't think for one minute that we're a bunch of asses who don't care about one another or new members."

"The last thing we want now is for you to go, you know we like you a lot, right?" Deidara agreed. _Myself especially…_

She gave them a small smile. "Thanks, you guys. I guess I was stupid to believe her."

"Don't worry, it happens, and Sakura has a good way of making people believe things." Said Tay.

Making sure to hide the axe, Kyohaku wandered about the halls, looking for Sakura.

_How DARE she do that…and to get Casana out of the group! Grrrr!! I'm gonna chop her to pieces!_ She thought, clenching a fist.

Finally she spotted Sakura at her locker, talking to Ino.

"Oi, SUCKura, I've got a bone to pick with you!" Kyohaku practically snarled.

"What's your problem?" Sakura demanded.

"Why the HELL did you tell Casana things to make her quit our group?!"

"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about." Sakura replied, sticking her nose in the air.

"Don't give me that BS, bitch, I know what you did."

"No you don't, because I didn't do anything." Sakura smirked.

"Then why the hell did Casana suddenly want out of our group!? And explain why she said that _you _told her things to make her want to leave!?" Kyohaku snarled.

"Please, like I'd want to be involved in your filthy degrading group. Anyway, even if I _did _do that, which I didn't, why on Earth would you even care?"

"Oh, we care, Sakura. We're not all heartless like you are."

"I am NOT heartless, for your information! You've got it switched around!!"

"Do I have to beat some sense into you? Because I will, if I have to."

"Ha, you and what army?" Sakura sneered. Kyohaku smirked and pulled the axe out.

"Not an army. But this will be enough to do you in."

Sakura and Ino paled. Kyohaku leaned and whispered, "You've heard the rumors, haven't you? The news where that person's body was injured so badly by a blade that he had to spend two months in the hospital? You better spill the truth, Sakura, before you end up like him."

Sakura glared at the girl in front of her, but then her eyes darted to the axe in her clenched fist and gulped. She backed away from her and said, "_Fine_! If you want to know that badly, I'll tell you! I merely told Casana the truth about you guys. You don't _really_ care about about her anyway. Why _would_ you care? She's a completely new student transferred from Canada who doesn't know a _thing_ about you guys, and yet you let her join? That's just a load of bullshit!"

"That is it! Sakura, stop toying with other people's lives and get your own!!"

"Sakura! I got some help!!" Ino yelled, running down the hall frantically. A few adults were following her. Kyohaku saw them and blinked. Sakura found her chance.

"Somebody please help me!This girl has been ganging up on me for her own damn reasons!! Sh-she has an _axe_ she's threatening me with!!"

Kyohaku shot a glare at the pink-haired student.

"Do you want to end up like him or not?!"

Sakura shook her head and tried to look as scared as possible. Kyohaku turned her glance to the adults again.

"Well…..are you going to do something? Or what?"

"Kyohaku!! I-" Casana started as she ran around to where Kyohaku was. She stopped when she saw the adults standing there as well. One of them looked at her and said, "You four…come with me."

Kyohaku sat at the principal's office, bored out of her mind. The rest of the gang was there too, and Sakura and Ino were waiting also.

Finally, the principal, a tall blonde woman in her 50's with a REALLY large chest, cleared her throat and asked Sakura and Kyohaku to explain their sides of the story. Sakura was first.

"Well Tsunade-sama, I was having a pleasantly innocent conversation with Casana over there, and then she wanted to be alone and walked off. Then all of a sudden Kyohaku comes and she's all furious and threatening to cut me with that axe she had."

"And?" Tsunade said, raising an eyebrow. "What were you and Casana talking about?"

"Well…nothing much really." Sakura shrugged.

"Bullshit!" Kyohaku said angrily, standing in her seat. "You said something to make her want to leave our group! What did you tell her?!"

"Sit down, Kyohaku." Tsunade said sternly. "Tell us, Sakura."

"Fine!" Sakura sighed and told them about her previous conversation in which she said how the Akatsuki group were nothing but scum.

"…and that's it." Sakura finished.

The gang all sighed and rolled her eyes.

"I see…." Said Tsunade, leaning back in her chair.

"But that's not all!" Sakura stood and took out some papers from her bag. _Heh heh, since my first plan failed, I'll use my back-up._ "Here Tsunade-sama, you might want to look at these."

Tsunade took the papers and looked at them. Her eyebrows shot up to her hairline.

"That boy Deidara right there made plans to _rape Casana_!!" Sakura shouted.


	8. Misunderstandings?

**Group Akatsuki**

A dead silence befell the room. Everyone's eyes were wide with shock, Kyohaku looked ready to kill Sakura, and Casana looked absolutely shocked and terrified, but her face was bright red.

"_WHAT?!?!_" Deidara shot up and glared daggers at the pink-haired girl. "That is NOT TRUE! I've _never_ made plans like that, yeah!"

"Oh shush, the plans are right here before our eyes. Face it, you want to rape her and here's the proof." Sakura smirked.

Tsunade looked over the "plans" and looked at the blonde. "Is this true, Deidara?"

"Absolutely not! I didn't make any such plans to do that, I would _never ever _do such a thing to Casana."

Tsunade looked at Sakura and raised an eyebrow. "Sakura, just what is the meaning of this?"

"It's true, Tsunade-sama! I found them in his backpack earlier today! It's all there!" Sakura wailed.

"Sakura…" Kyohaku took hold of the axe again. "I am going to _murder_ you!!"

She raised the axe toward Sakura, but then Tsunade got onto her desk and reached out and grabbed it.

"Put that away, Kyohaku. You were given the axe to cut down any dead tree in the schoolyard and only for that purpose." She said sternly.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama." Kyohaku sat back down and put the axe with her bag.

"You rotten scumbag!!!" Sakura yelled. "How could even _think _of wanting to rob Casana of her virginity!"

"You're one to talk!!" Deidara shot back. "You sleep with every guy in a mile radius!"

"An insult!! That is not true!"

"BOTH OF YOU! ENOUGH!" Tsunade shouted, nearly making everyone fall over. "Now, Sakura, did you type these 'plans'?"

"No, Tsunade-sama! _He _did!!!" Sakura protested. "Wants nothing more than to rob the innocence of-"

WHAM!

Everyone stared in surprise.

"Enough of that, bitch!" Tay growled, wiping her knuckle.

Sakura stood, she had blood running from her nose and mouth. She pointed an angry shaking finger at the soccer maniac. "You…you….you _mutant!!!_ Look what you did to me!!!! My Daddy will have your HEAD!!!" She screamed and ran out of the office.

"Good riddance." Kyohaku muttered.

"I would never dream about touching that scumbag Sakura." Deidara muttered.

Casana was still red, but the shock had passed.

"Casana, you blushing?" Tay asked, still rubbing her fist to wipe off some extra blood. Casana shot up straight and stammered, "U-Um, no! N-Not at all!!"

Kyohaku laughed. "There's no way, Deidara could rape you."

Casana blinked and tilted her head a bit, not quite understanding. Kyohaku laughed again and smiled.

"Don't stress over it. We're used to this kind of abuse by Sakura." Sasori said. Casana nodded slowly.

"So, anyone wanna help me chop down the tree? It's a good stress reliever."

"Ooh! Me!"

"Me too!"

"Count me in!"

Kyohaku grinned from ear to ear and took her messenger bag.

"We'll get to work now, Tsunade-sama." She replied, and she left the room with the rest of the members.

_After school_…

Kyohaku flopped onto her bed and relaxed a bit. Hisaki, her sister, came.

"How ya doing, sis? You miss me?"

"No." Kyohaku replied jokingly. Hisaki scowled playfully and nudged her. "C'mon, you know you did!"

Kyohaku laughed and threw a pillow at the multi-hair coloured sister.

"Fine, I admit it! It was too quiet here without you guys."

"Ha, I win!!" Hisaki cheered in triumph. Her sister rolled her eyes and smiled.

"How's my little sis?" Hisaki asked, throwing an arm around Kyohaku's shoulder. Kyohaku pouted and said, "Stop that. You're treating me like a kid."

"That's cuz you _act_ like one, silly!"

"Hey!! Not fair, so do you, Miss Stay-out-of-my-business-while-I-can-go-into-yours. Stop butting in so much!" Kyohaku exclaimed, throwing her sister off her bed.

"Ow! Oh, c'mere, you! You'll pay for that!" Hisaki said, grabbing a pillow and chasing after her sister. Kyohaku ran away.

"Ah! Oh no, help me! Someone save me!" Kyohaku cried out jokingly, laughing. She ran down the stairs with her sister pursuing her as fast as lightning.

The doorbell rang. They both froze in their positions, Kyohaku on both feet with her head towards the door, and Hisaki standing on one leg –which was a miracle she didn't fall over the next minute, she has horrible balance.

Kyohaku opened the door.

"Ooh, Casana-chan? Who gave you my address?" Kyohaku asked.

Casana blinked and mouthed, "YOU DID."

"Oh, right. Duh, how could I forget?"

"Who is it, sis?" Hisaki called from the living room as she went in.

"Just a friend from school!" Kyohaku called back, and turned to the other brunette. "So, what'cha need?"

"Well uh, I kinda left my notebook at school and I really need to get studying for the Algebra test tomorrow. Would you mind if I copied off your notes so I can study them?"

"Oh, sure! Come on in, I'll go get 'em." Kyohaku stepped aside and let her in and shut the door. "Is that _all _you wanted?" She teased.

"Um, well, yes. And your house is the closest to mine so…yeah." Casana replied.

"Okay, come on then." Kyohaku led the way to her room. "Boy, Sakura sure got to us today, didn't she?"

"Apparently. I can't believe I actually believed what she said about…well, you guys being hard-ass criminals without a care in the world."

"Don't worry, it happens. And the plans she wrote up making it look like Deidara wanted to _rape_ you? That was just overkill." Kyohaku remarked.

Casana blushed at that again. "Yeah…i-it was."

Going into her room, Kyohaku noticed the blush, and she chuckled. "Are you _blushing_?"

"Huh? N-no! Well, not in the way you think!"

Shaking her head, Kyohaku put her backpack on her bed and took out her notebook, handing it to the brown-haired girl. "Well, speaking of which…what do you think of ol' blondie?"

"What do I think?" Her cheeks turned pink again and she opened the notebook and took out her own and produced a pencil from her bag. "Well…he's really sweet, artistic, unique, cultured, a little bit on the wild side, funny, and…well, he's really cute. And…well…"

"You like him, don't you?" Kyohaku smirked.

"W-what?!" Casana's face turned even pinker. "N-no! Don't be silly! Well, yes, I do like him a lot…b-but not in THAT way! As a friend, yes!"

The blue-haired girl snickered and shook her head. "Your expression and stammering tell me otherwise, Casa-chan. Besides, you blush every time he's around or mentioned, and you look like you're in Heaven when he comes in contact with you."

"I, well….I don't know, okay?! It's just…he burns this…fiery passion within me I never knew about!" She explained, blushing even more.

Kyohaku simply stared at her, with a light smirk.

"…Fine! I like him! That better?!" She scribbled down some notes as a distraction. "I can't help it…he's a great guy and so cute…I'd sell my Grandmother to be his girlfriend!!" Then she sighed. "I'm just wasting my time, though. There's no way he likes me too."

Kyohaku chuckled.

"And what, may I ask, is so funny?"

"On the contrary my dear Casana, he's shown quite an interest in you since the day you guys met. Until that day, I haven't seen a trace of a blush or soft look in his eyes. Believe me, he totally likes you."

"He…he does?"

"I just know it. And remember today when you said you wanted out of the group? I saw a look of panic on his face that I've never seen before."

"You did?"

"Yep."

"Well…okay, are you sure?"

"Trust me." Kyohaku smiled.

"Okay…" The brown-haired girl smiled a bit. "I trust you."

"Good, 'cause always trust the Silver-Agggh!!!" Kyohaku suddenly wailed, clutching her head.

"Kyohaku!!! Are you okay? What's wrong??" Casana cried in panic, dropping her notebook, Kyohaku's notebook and her pencil.

"Agh…" Kyohaku groaned. "Nothing, it's okay. It was just a throb in my head. Don't worry, I'm fine. Agghh….okay, okay, it's gone now."

"Oh, okay." Casana wasn't quite convinced. _Could the head throb attacks be coming back? Is it more serious than we thought???_

Kyohaku took a deep breath, and picked up the things that were dropped and handed them to her friend, grinning. "You dropped these."

"Oh, thanks." Casana took them and went back to work. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"Positive. I'm fine, don't worry." She assured her.

"Okay, I hope so."

_I hope she doesn't tell anyone about it…God I hope that stupid head throb attack thing isn't coming back to me in an excessive manner!_

_Meanwhile, at the art store in town…_

"Boy, Sakura nearly got to us this time!" Sasori remarked as he picked up a small chisel from the shelf he was standing in front of. "First trying to convince Casana to leave our group, and then printing up false plans of you trying to rape her!!"

Deidara blushed slightly, but tried to shake it off as he busied himself being interested in some brushes. "Y-yeah…real weird and dumb, I'd never do that to Casana. She's our friend, and I'd hate myself if I ever did that."

"I bet, and Tay would've probably kicked your ass. Kyohaku, well, she'd blackmail you so bad…" Sasori chuckled.

"Real funny, Sasori." Deidara rolled his eyes.

"Anyway Deidara, I don't know if you've noticed but…" Sasori took a packet of wood from another shelf. "You've shown quite a peculiar interest in Casana since you met her."

The blonde blinked. "I have? …No way, you must be joking."

"Do you recall me telling a joke?" Sasori replied, looking serious.

"Well no, but…"

The door opened with a slam. Kyohaku stood there, gasping for breath.

"Y-You guys are not gonna believe this!!" she sang once she took in enough air. Deidara and Sasori looked at her expectantly.

"Casa-chan loves Dei" she sang out even louder, letting the whole world hear. The room was silent for a moment, then a loud burst of shouts emerged.

"Say what?!? She admitted it??"

"Yep! I have the WHOLE THING RECORDED!" she declared, plopping down into an empty chair. Deidara just stared at her in disbelief.

"And-" she paused for breath. "My sis is taking the group to the next Simple Plan concert."

Hisaki appeared at the doorway. "Hey."

"Long time no see, Hisaki-san."

"You too."

Kyohaku pouted.

"You're never this cool at home."

"Oh, be quiet."

They laughed. Sasori rolled his eyes for no particular reason.

"This is sisterly love, eh?"

"Yep. DEAL WITH IT." Hisaki yelled. Kyohaku started laughing even harder, but she suddenly cut it off with a sharp cry of pain. Everyone's heads snapped towards her.

"Agh, stupid head throbs..." she muttered, holding her head. Hisaki sat next to her.

"You sure you're okay? Didn't you have to go to the hospital because of it? Why don't we go back there?" she started suggesting. KYohaku just shook her head slightly and kept looking down.

"Uh...maybe if I got some sleep I'll feel better." she replied, stadning up and heading towards the door.

"See you guys later."

The next day, early morning, Kyohaku got a phone call.

"Hey, Kyohaku? Your head okay?" Casana's voice asked. Kyohaku blinked, then replied, "I'm sorry, who is this?"

"It's Casana. Can't you recognize my voice?"

"Uh...no, I don't think I understand."

"What're you trying to pull?" Casana's voice was stern.

"I don't know a Casana, sorry." Kyohaku replied, then hung up.


	9. Decieving Lies from Pinkie

**Group Akatsuki**

Casana was on her bed, looking perplexed. She didn't know her? But that was impossible! They had talked together millions of times, and even had been the prime victim of one of her pranks, and she didn't know her??

Casana wondered if maybe this was all a misunderstanding. Hisaki could've answered the phone instead, but then again, she would've given the phone to Kyohaku. Could Kyohaku not want to talk to her for some reason? Or...did it have to do with those strange headaches she's having?

"Gah!! I'm thinking too hard!" she groaned out loud. Now her head was hurting too.

Kyohaku just pulled over her covers and slept some more until another phone call came. This time from Deidara.

"Hello?"

"Yes? Kyohaku?"

"Yeah?"

"Why didn't you answer Casana??"

"Who?"

"Casana! You know, the brunette with the curly locks of brown hair in our group!"

"Uh..nope. My mind is blank. Sorry, Dei-chan. So, what did you call me for?"

"I just TOLD you!!" Deidara snapped.

"...Look, I don't know this Casana kid, okay? Geez." she muttered back as a reply. She was about to hang up when Deidara spoke.

"Kyohaku, you're going back. That's final." Then he hung up, leaving Kyohaku speechless.

Going back? To where? Kyohaku thought. Man, nobody was making sense today. No sense at all.

The phone immediatly rang again. The teen rolled her eyes and picked it up.

"Who is it now?" she snapped into the phone.

"Um...I'm in front of your house, can you open the door?"

"Huh? Er...sure." she hung up and walked down the stairs, opening the front door. She didn't even bother to figure out who was calling.

Sasori stood on the front step, looking concerned.

"Oh, hey Sasori. What brings you here?" She inquired.

"I heard about what's happened recently, and Kyohaku, maybe we should take you back to the hospital." He explained.

"Say what?! Whoa, whoa, I'm not going anywhere! I don't _need _to go to the hospital! And if I did, I'd go myself. But I don't need to, I'm fine."

"Kyohaku, you're not fine. Please, just come with me to the hospital so we can see what's happened to make the head throbbing return and losing part of your memory." Sasori coaxed.

_Losing my memory?_ She thought. Kyohaku sighed. "Fine. I have no idea what's gotten into _your_ head, but if it'll make you happy, fine. Let's go see what the hell this is all about."

"Okay, let's go." Sasori turned and led the way to the curb.

Kyohaku followed suit, still wondering what the hell was going on.

_The Hospital…_

The doctor came to the gang who were all sat around the waiting room, anxious.

"How is she, Doctor?" Sasori asked.

"Well, I'm afraid it's more serious than we thought. Kyohaku has a tumor in her brain, and it has caused her to lose part of her short-term memory, as we can see." The doctor explained.

"Is there anything you can do?" Casana asked anxiously, looking ready to burst into to tears. "Anything at all?"

"Yes, there is. We can operate as soon as possible and remove the tumor before it spreads to the rest of her brain and body. It will take some time, but we can do it. However, after the surgery, she may still have some of her short-term memory still lost, but there will be ways to retrieve it and make her brain work normally." Said the Doctor.

"So she's going to be all right?" Tay clarified.

"She will be as long as we operate immediately."

"Then please go with the surgery." Sasori said. "I'll pay for it."

They all looked at Sasori in surprise, and in awe.

The doctor looked equally surprised. "You will?"

"Yes. I'm more than willing to. If it'll save her life, I'll gladly pay for it top to bottom." Sasori said seriously.

"Okay, kiddo." The doctor nodded. "We'll operate immediately, and let you know when it's over." With that he turned and headed away.

Sasori turned back to the gang. "Okay, who's got the money for the operation?"

They all stared at him.

"What?"

"You can't be serious!"

"What the hell!?"

He laughed. "I'm just joking, don't worry." Sasori sat back down. "All we have to do now is wait."

They all anxiously sat around, mostly in silence.

Finally, after what seemed to be hours, the doctors retreated out of the room with a smile.

"Okay, she should be alright from now on."

_The next day…_

Kyohaku yawned. It was the middle of the school day, and she felt so tired for some reason….

The teacher smacked her pointer against the board.

"Ms. Shiruba, pay attention!" she scolded. Kyohaku slipped down in her seat.

"But I'm so tired…." She muttered. The teacher 'tsk, tsk'ed and said, "That's obvious, but you cannot sleep in class!"

"Fuck whoever made the damn rules here then." She replied with a loud yawn, rolling over in her seat. Majority of the class laughed, but Casana palmed her forehead and sank down in her seat.

"Out of all the things she could have remembered….cuss words had to be one of them…" she sighed, sitting back up straight. This was going to be ugly.

"Hey, Kyohaku!"

"Mm…?" Kyohaku yawned, turning around with sleepy eyes. Sakura was running towards her, waving a hand and smiling.

"You are…?" Kyohaku inquired a little softly. Sakura's smiled spread.

"I'm here to tell you something. You probably don't remember what happened not too long ago right?"

"Um….no, I can't exactly remember…"

"Exactly!! You know the brunette girl with the red headband that sits next to you in Math class 2?"

"Her? She seems pretty….I don't know, unintelligent. She has a lot of trouble with Math."

"Well, you see, she recently joined a group called, 'Akatsuki'. She was just the sweetest thing ever…but now she's too devoted on what a certain blonde in the group says! She's even joined them!"

"So what's so bad about that?" Kyohaku asked, trying to wake up so she could hear the rest of the story.

"Group Akatsuki is a criminal gang!" Sakura declared, shooting her finger into the air. Kyohaku stared at her, then the finger.

"Oh, so you're saying that blonde that sits behind her in English is telling her to do criminal acts and the whole group is basically corrupt by evil and it only contains malicious members of hell?" Kyohaku asked, analyzing every single blonde she knew in her mind and all the possibilities. "Isn't that like….something that only happens in manga?"

"Kyohaku, I'm serious!! Steer clear of them!" Sakura commanded, clasping both of her hands on Kyohaku's shoulders. "I'll only tell you once! In the group there is exactly two girls and nine guys. One girl and one boy nobody knows how they look like, one guy with white hair and VERY religious and full of swear words, another greedy for money freak, one with blue skin and blue hair, one with green hair and a green thumb, one with scarlet piercing eyes, one girl with blue hair, the brunette, the blondie, and the red-head that—"

"Red-head!?" Kyohaku interrupted with a cry of alarm. 'You don't mean that cute little red-head that sits behind me in—"

"Yes!! That red-head!!" Sakura hissed.

Kyohaku blinked and then laughed. "That's really funny! But no way that adorable red-head with the luscious eyes could even be remotely criminal material!"

"Would I even think to lie to you, Kyohaku!?" Sakura demanded. "I'm not kidding! The Akatsuki gang is dangerous and are nothing but horrible jackasses! You've seen that sweet new member, she started out as a regular girl, and now thanks to manipulation from the blonde, and the gang, she's becoming one of them! You two must save yourselves!"

Kyohaku just pulled away from the rosette. "I appreciate your concern, pinkie. But I have no clue what you're trying to say. If I do run into 'em, I'll just walk away. Bye-bye now."

_This better work. _Sakura thought. _But at least she doesn't remember them, so there's an advantage._

Kyohaku went to her next class, which was art. Joyfully she noticed the cute red-head sitting on a stool working on a puppet.

_I don't care what pinkie says, I think that boy's way too cute to pass up!_

She flipped her blue hair out of her face and went over to sit next to him. "Hello, is this seat taken?"

"Nope." Said Sasori. "How're you feeling?"

"Fine, just fine! …Say, what's your name again?"

Sasori stared at her weirdly. _Damn it, she really forgot who we are. Oh well, the doctors said she'll regain her memory in time._ "It's Sasori."

"Hiya Sasori! Say, some pinkie told me today about this Akatsuki group…know anything about it?"

"Yes. I'm a member, and so are some of our friends. You're in the group too." Said Sasori.

"I am?" Kyohaku raised a brow. "Well the pinkie told me you guys were bad."

The red-head shrugged. "Well, maybe so, but on another level, we're not so bad at all."

"I don't care what pinkie says." She leaned toward him. "You're too cute."

Sasori smiled and kissed her gently. "So are you."

Kyohaku looked ready to fall, or just squeal her lungs out and dance happily on the table.

"Besides," Sasori went on, pointing across the tables. "Deidara finally asked Casana out last night."

"Uh…wha?" She glanced at where he was pointing. The blonde that pinkie probably was talking about was helping the head-band wearing brunette make something out of clay, and occasionally he'd give her a little kiss on the temple, then pat her shoulder saying "You're getting better, just keep at it!"

It was cute.

Kyohaku blinked slightly. "Hey…isn't that the blonde pinkie mentioned? The blonde that the brunette girl there apparently seems devoted to…?"

Sasori looked puzzled. _Just what is Sakura telling her?_ "Er…yeah. I guess you can say that."

"Weird…he doesn't look like he's telling her to do criminal stuff. He just looks like he likes her."

"Oh, he does." Sasori snickered.

_Jeez, is pinkie blind or something? Akatsuki doesn't seem so bad? Although she must be right about brownie._

_After school…_

"Hey, you, brownie." Kyohaku said to Casana, going to her locker.

"You talkin' to me?" Casana asked, turning around.

"Yeah, I wanted to ask you…" Kyohaku looked down at the oversized t-shirt she was wearing over her overalls, it depicted a picture of a radio tower in a city, and had the words "WKRP IN CINCINNATI" printed on it. "Wait…are you from Cinncinati?"

"No, I'm from Manitoba." Casana replied. "Anyway, what'd you want to ask me?"

"Oh, right. Anyway, what's this about an Akatsuki group being bad?"

"Well, I only recently joined the group myself, and I know they've done some bad things, but it's mostly an image thing and what the leader puts 'em through. I myself had to rob my favourite store in order to be fully accepted." She explained.

"Oh." _Funny…this all seems familiar. _"Pinkie told me you're also…devoted to what some blonde says, is that true?"

"Eh?" Casana blushed. "I uh…well…um…well he's always been so good to me and all, he asked me out last night and…uh…well uh…I guess maybe a little, because I really admire and respect his views on things."

_Makes more sense…but wait, this is sounding familiar. _"Okay then. See ya later…uh, wait, what's your name?"

"Casana."

"…Casana, right. OK." Kyohaku repeated. "See ya." She turned and headed out the doors.

_Casana…I know I never met this girl, but somehow, I feel like I know her…weird._

"Hey." A hand touched her shoulder. She whipped around, perplexed.

"Oh hey, pinkie. What's up?" Kyohaku greeted, her eyes wandering around the school in hopes of catching Sasori, maybe the blondie. Pinkie, however, didn't look very happy.

"Stop calling me pinkie! I have a name, it's Sakura." Sakura snapped, folding her arms across her chest. Kyohaku waved a hand.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. So anyway, back to the question."

"What were you doing, talking to her?" Sakura inquired, touching her bottom lip with her index finger.

"…uh, yeah?"

"What were you talking about?"

"Oh nothing, just that feminine blondie she loves like heck. Hm, he's a bit too girlish-looking for most tastes. He's lucky."

Sakura blinked.

"You do realize this guy has a humongous fanclub, don't you?" Sakura asked, tipping an eyebrow. Kyohaku looked alarmed.

"He does?! B-But then….aw man, it won't be long before the fangirls start—"

"Yeah yeah, poor Casana. Akatsuki has a lot of fangirls, even if nearly all the guys have a partner in life already."

"Even the red-head? Who's his partner in life?" Kyohaku inquired, looking anxiously at the rosette. Sakura smiled.

"Oh, I don't know, some girl. A sophomore I think." She replied.

"What?!" Kyohaku looked alarmed.

"I know, shocking isn't it?" Sakura shook her head.

"But why did he kiss me?!"

"He kisses almost any girl he finds hot. Besides, he's only using you to make his partner in life all jealous and want him so much more. And blondie, well, he's got a partner in life who goes to school in the next town."

"Say what?!!" Kyohaku cried. "No way!"

"I'm afraid so. He gets lonely here, so he snags the next girl who comes along. Not only that…the Akatsuki, because of their many fangirls…they often whore themselves out to them. Because they're lonely sometimes…and they need it…from hot girls."

Kyohaku couldn't believe what she'd been hearing.

"…I gotta go." She turned and headed out the doors.

Sakura smirked evilly. _Mission accomplished. Almost. Now just have to prove that I'm right…_


End file.
